How To Use This Book

Using Your Harbrace Handbook for Canadians, Sixth Edition

Icons, Tabs, & Symbols

Icons, tabs, and symbols are just a few of the special design features created to help you further your search for specific information within the Harbrace. Several of these features, including the coloured tabs, chapter symbols, and colour bleedlines are designed as navigation tools, whereas the three special icons and boxed checklists are designed to help you find specific information within the chapters. In any event, these features can be used in combination with the general reference tools discussed in Tables, Lists, and Indices to make your search for specific information much faster and easier.

Scroll down the page to read about all of the special design features in the Harbrace, or click on the title below to read about the particular feature you are most interested in.

• Colour Tabs
• Chapter, Glossary, & Index Symbols
• Colour Bleedlines
• Computer, ESL, & Cautions Icons
• Boxed Checklists
• Cross-References

Once you have familiarized yourself with these features and the general reference tools in Tables, Lists, and Indices, check out our Sample Search Strategies.

COLOUR TABS
Colour tabs can be found at the top right of each chapter, glossary, and index page within the Harbrace.

The coloured tabs on the chapter pages indicate which section of the chapter (e.g., 17b) is discussed on the page. You will notice that these coloured tabs do not always appear sequentially. The coloured tabs within the chapters are not always sequential because the colour tab indicates the number of the last section to begin on a particular page.

For instance, the coloured tab on page 263 indicates that section 24a is discussed on this page, whereas the coloured tab on page 265 displays the section number 24c. The reason for this jump in section numbers is to indicate that the last section beginning on page 265 is section 24c. So, page 265 includes both sections 24b and 24c. You will notice a similar jump in the section number displayed in the colour tab of page 266: the colour tab displays 24f, indicating that sections 24d, 24e, and 24f are included on this page.

The colour tabs on the pages of the glossaries display a "G" to indicate that you are in either the "Glossary of Usage" or "Glossary of Terms." (To determine which glossary you are in, you will need to refer to the abbreviation, or symbol, located to the left of the tab. The symbol for the "Glossary of Usage" is usgl; the symbol for "Glossary of Terms" is gt.)

The colour tabs at the top right of general Index and ESL Index pages display an "I." To tell which of these two indices you are in, look for the title of the index printed to the left of the tab.

Like the general and ESL indices, the pages of the MLA Documentation Style Index and APA Documentation Style Index bear blue tabs with the title "MLA Index" or "APA Index" printed to the left of the tab.

Note that the pages of the Preface, Table of Contents, and "part openers" (the pages that introduce the chapters within each of the six parts of the book) do not bear colour tabs. Rather, the first page for each of these elements is indicated with a wide blue box at the top of the page, displaying the element's title.

The colour tabs at the top right-hand corner of the pages can be used

• to identify which section, or sections, of a chapter is presented on a particular page;
• to identify glossary or index pages;
• to quickly locate particular chapter sections and indices, including those pertaining to the documentation styles of MLA and APA, or the pages of the glossary by merely flipping through the pages of the handbook.

Along with merely flipping through the pages of the handbook, you can use these colour tabs to find information in conjunction with the general reference tools discussed in Tables, Lists, and Indices. For instance, if you have looked up the section number in the Chart of Harbrace Content, the Table of Contents, or Index, you can flip through the handbook using the colour tabs to locate the pages presenting this section. Or, if you have used the Table of Contents or one of the indices to look up the page number on which particular information is addressed, you can use the coloured tab to identify which chapter and section contains this information.

CHAPTER, GLOSSARY, & INDEX SYMBOLS
Printed to the left of the coloured tab, located at the top right of each chapter, glossary, and index page is a symbol, or abbreviated title, assigned to that particular section of the Harbrace.

Each chapter (and each section of chapter 21, "The Period and Other Marks") is assigned a unique symbol, or abbreviation, that indicates the general topic discussed in the chapter.

The following are examples of such symbols, or abbreviations:

Ch. 1: Sentence Sense ss
Ch. 2: Sentence Fragments frag
Ch. 3: Comma Splices & Fused Sentences cs/fs
Ch. 18: The Semicolon ; /
Ch. 21: The Period and Other Marks
- 21a: The Period . /
- 21b: The Question Mark ? /

The individual chapter symbols (and chapter 21 section symbols) are referenced in the Table of Revision Symbols and are also indicated in the Chart of Harbrace Contents and Table of Contents--all of which are discussed in Tables, Lists, & Indices.

As you flip through the pages of your Harbrace, use the chapter symbols, or abbreviations, to

• locate a chapter addressing a general topic, such as "Conciseness: Avoiding Wordiness and Needless Repetition" (w/rep);
• find the particular section of chapter 21 that addresses one of the following subjects:
  --the period,
  --the question mark,
  --the exclamation point,
  --the colon,
  --the dash,
  --parentheses,
  --brackets,
  --the slash,
  --ellipsis points;
  
• locate the chapter, or chapter section, addressing the revision symbol written in the margin of your essay.

The unique symbols, or abbreviated titles, of the two glossaries and four indices are also printed to the left of the coloured tabs.

Glossary of Terms gt
Glossary of Usage usgl
Index Index
ESL Index ESL Index
MLA Documentation Style Index MLA Index
APA Documentation Style Index APA Index

The glossary and index symbols are referenced in the Chart of Harbrace Contents and Table of Contents, which are discussed in Tables, Lists, & Indices. Note that these abbreviated titles are not revision symbols and, thus, are not referenced in the Table of Revision Symbols.

The glossary and index symbols, or abbreviations, can be used to

• locate the pages containing the Glossary of Terms or Glossary of Usage, once you have located the Glossary section using the blue coloured tab displaying a "G";
• find the pages containing the general Index and ESL Index, once you have located the Index section using the blue coloured tab displaying an "I";

COLOUR BLEEDLINES
Pages 541-593 and pages 597-630 of chapter 34 in the Harbrace are marked with long vertical blue bars on the edge of their right margins. These vertical bars of colour, which can be seen on the edge of pages even when the handbook is closed, are what publishers call "bleedlines" because the line of colour "bleeds" to the end of the page.

The bleedlines in the Harbrace identify the pages that address MLA and APA documentation styles. The bleedlines on MLA pages are on the top half of the page, and the bleedlines on APA pages are on the bottom half of the page.

Bleedline Uses:

• Use the upper bleedline to quickly find the pages of chapter 34 that address the MLA documentation style, including information about parenthetical documentation, the works cited page, and the student paper in MLA format.
• Use the lower bleedline to quickly locate pages in chapter 34 that address the APA documentation style, including information about parenthetical documentation, the reference page, and the student paper in APA format.
• Use upper bleedline as a visual aid for making sure that you are still within the material addressing only MLA documentation style.
• Use the lower bleedline as a visual aid for making sure that you are still within the material addressing only the APA documentation style.

COMPUTER, ESL, & CAUTIONS ICONS
The Harbrace contains three distinct icons--computer icons, ESL icons, and Cautions icons--to indicate specific discussions within the text of the chapters.

The computer icon appears in the shape of a computer. It is printed in blue and points to information about using computers. Computer icons can usually be found in the outer margin of the page at the exact location where computer information is discussed (see page 251, section 22f, of your Harbrace for an example) or next to the title of a chapter section or subsection that offers a lengthy discussion of using computers (See Harbrace page 507, section 33e[2]). You will also notice a computer icon next to the title of chapter 26, "Document Design," indicating that this chapter integrates a great deal of discussion about using computers (see Harbrace page 279).

The ESL icon appears as the letters ESL printed in a unique blue font and appears on the inside margin of the handbook. The ESL icon and the highlighted information about usage particular to "English as a Second Language" is surrounded by a blue line, which creates a "box" effect. (See Harbrace page 180, section 15e, for an example.) To find ESL information quickly, use the ESL Index to find the number of the chapter section or page containing the ESL information; then look for the ESL icon to pinpoint where the information occurs within the section or page.

The Cautions icon appears as a boxed exclamation point and is followed by the word "Caution." The blue Cautions icon appears at the far left of the text line: it indicates the beginning of a paragraph that presents a particular exception or concern that may affect the topic or process being discussed. (See Harbrace page 251, section 22f, for an example.)

Whether you are flipping through a chapter or have started looking for specific information with an index, you can use the Harbrace icons in the following ways:

• Use the computer icons to quickly locate information within a chapter, or chapter section, that addresses the use of computers and the Internet.
• Use the ESL icons to quickly find information about ESL usage within a chapter, or chapter section. (ESL icons can be used to find the exact location, within the chapter, of topics indexed in the ESL Index.)
• Use the Cautions icons as visual tools indicating important grammatical exceptions or writing situations that may affect the topic or process you are studying.

BOXED CHECKLISTS
Checklists in the Harbrace offer guidelines or summaries for completing a process, such as revising an essay or making transitional connections between sentences and paragraphs. Checklists can easily be identified because they are contained within shaded boxes of blue, bearing a small check mark icon (an icon of white check mark within a blue box) to the right of a title beginning "Checklist for . . ." (See Harbrace page 519, section 33f, for an example.)

All of the checklists in the Harbrace are referenced by topic on the List of Checklists, printed on the reverse side of the last page of the handbook. Once you have consulted the List of Checklists to find the topic and page number of a checklist, just turn to that page and look for the checklist in the blue box.

CROSS-REFERENCES
Cross-references in the Harbrace indicate where related information about a topic can be found and appear in two forms: references to chapter or section numbers and references to page numbers.

Most cross-references refer to a chapter or section of the Harbrace. Chapter or section cross-references generally appear within the text of a chapter; however, they may also appear next to the title of a section or subsection. These cross-references are often indicated by a phrase, such as "See 13a and 33e." However, they can also take the form of a parenthetical notation: (28a). In either form, the chapter or section number is highlighted in blue text.

You will often see a cross-reference that says "See chapter 7" or (chapter 29). These indicate that you should look at the introductory material of the chapter (the pages that occur before the sections numbered with a, b, c . . .). For instance, the cross-reference "See chapter 7" indicates that you should look for your topic in the first nine pages of chapter 7 (pages 75-83). If more information about your topic is provided later in the chapter, the relevant section numbers will be cross-referenced within this introductory text.

References to the "Glossary of Terms" and "Glossary of Usage" follow the format of the section cross-reference but include the term in the glossary to look for in bold type: See principle parts in the Glossary of Terms.

Page number references in the Harbrace occur within the text and are printed in the usual black type. See the cross-reference at the bottom of Harbrace page 90, section 7b, which appears as "See page 76."